Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.

The mind creates the abyss, and the heart crosses it.

Try to be mindful and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool.

Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above, below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.

Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.

The path to liberation is through understanding the true nature of mind and matter through direct observation.

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

In meditation, we are continuously discovering who and what we are.

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced mind that sees things clearly without reaction.

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

Like a dream, like an illusion, like a city of gandharvas, that's how birth, and that's how living, that's how dying are taught to be.

Concentration develops naturally through continuous noting. Don't try to force concentration to arise.

This very body is the Buddha. And this very earth the lotus paradise.

When we develop patience, we find that we develop a reserve of calm and tranquility.

Meditation is not about achieving anything. It's about letting go of everything.

In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.

The more you understand impermanence, the more you appreciate every moment.

This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

The art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all. It is a realization that where you are is where you have always been.

The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that's really swell.

Meditation is not just about sitting quietly, it's about transforming the mind.

To see nothing is to perceive the Way, and to understand nothing is to know the Dharma.

The nature of mind is like a mirror. It is not affected by whatever appears in it, yet it never fails to reflect everything perfectly.

The cultivation of loving-kindness has the power to transform enmity into amity, hostility into hospitality.

Zazen is not step-by-step meditation. Rather it is simply the easy and pleasant practice of a Buddha, the realization of the Buddha's Wisdom.

When we see the nature of the mind, we see that we are not our thoughts.

The world is its own magic.

The mind is like a room with many windows. Open them all and let the fresh air in.